Demountable rim.



c'. w. FOSTER.

DEMOUNABLE BLM.

AFILKCATION -FILED FEB.. 9. i918.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

l lNvENToR C'. W Foster WITNESSES m o n A C. WA FSER.

oEmouNmLE amE APPLICTIGN FILED F55. 9. w13.

mtenied Dec. 10, M8.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WrrNEssEs UNITED Astrains CLARENCE W. FOSTER, OF CHLORIDE, ARIZONA.

DEMOUNTABLE RIM.

Application filed February 9, 1918.

To all whom z'zf may concern Be i-t known that I, CLARENCE W. FOSTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chloride, in the county of Mohave and State of Arizona, have invented new and useful Improvements in Demountable Rims, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wheels, and more especially to those having metallic rims; and the object of the same is to produce a demountable rim for wheels which are employed mostly on motor "ehicles he invention comprises a rim slipped axially onto the felly or ont'o a band surroundingr 'the same, means for holding it thereon to prevent it from creeping, and a lock consisting of aring screwed onto the projecting outer edge of said felly or band and having a nut lock to prevent unscrewing; and the invention also .consists in details employed in carrying out`this ,broad idea.

The .following specification sets forthmy preferred manner of carrying out this invention, reference being had to the accom-A pa-nying drawings wheremz- Figure l is a perspective view of a por tion of the completed structure, part-ly broken away to show the notch for the entrance of the nipple, the whole structure being in section in the foreground, and the tire being indicated only i dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view ol'riiI portion of the band around the felly.

Fig. 3 is a bottom or iuncir plan view of a corresponding portion of |the rim.

Fig. 4 is a bottom of the ring, and

Fig. 5 is a side eleva-tionrof a fragment thereof, partly broken away.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of a portion of thel band partly broken away toi show the catch.

The spokes S carry the usual felly F, and, while I may applv the rim directly to the outer face of *the telly, especially it' the latter be of metal, I prefer to surround the felly with a fixed band B of metal hereinafter separately referred to as the hand although it is to he understood that it might be a part of the telly itself. The tire shown in 141g. l comprises the usual casing C and Specification of Letters Patent.

Arecess terminating plan view of a portion' Serial No. 216,298.

air tube TL No invention is claimed for the a thread rib, and-it does not enlarge the peripheralpside of the band-.thus leaving it possible to slip the rim ovei` this groove. I might here state that the threadis/of very gentle pitch, and extends only once around the complete band; groove or a plurality of grooves, or in other words a double thread as'clearly understood. This thread groove is to be engaged by a thread rib 3 on the innerface of a ring 4 whose section'is preferably about the same as 'that of the flange 1 at the inner edge of the band excepting that at one point it has a knob or handle 5 by, means of which it may be turned when it is put in place. It is in effect a large nut serewed'onto the thread 2 at the outer edge of the bandfto hold in place the rim yet to be described, and its thread rib (or ribs) by preference makes only one complete revolution, although it also may thread 2 is a double groove.

At a proper point a nut lock is provided. By preference I provide the ring with a in a hole extending through it, and within said recess is pivotally mounted a rocking catch whose tip 7 isv projected through said hole by means of a spring. Opposite the other or rear arm of the rocking catch is a button 6 having a cupped outer end exposed at the outside of the ring, and when any suitable-instrument such as a nail or a match is'pressed into this cupped end, 'the button rocks the catch against the tension of its spring and withdraws its tip. projects said tip, one of a number edge of the band site said tip when place. This entire lock, and it is completely housed tected from the weather and dust so that it engages ,with of teeth 9 formedin the at a 'point to come'oppothe ring is serled into and proand dirt,

yet it may he a single At other times the spring' device constitutest nut Patented Dec. 1o, v191e.

vio

be a double ribas the lmet No part of the button projects beyond the exterior contour of the ring, and therefore it can not be accidentally hit. 1.Vhen depressed itthrows the nut lock out of action, and permits the unscrewing of the ring.

The demountable rim 10 has a channeled body which is narrower than the Width of the band, and at its edges it is preferably provided with llanges 11 and 12 Which are inturned to embrace the'beads of the casing C as usual.. 1 do not Wish tobe limited in this respect, however, because the tire might be of the cushion type, it mightbe fastened rigidly to the outer face ot the rim, orit might in fact be of metal or other material or' perhaps integral .with-the rin'i itself although in such case there would' not be the necessity for demounting the rim which usu ally exists Where the tire is of the pneumatic type, and therefore we are considering the invention on this basis. The inner y'face of the rim is preferably tlat, and also by preference its circumference is appreciably larger than that of the outer tace of the band so that a space 13 exists between these elements; yet this space does not fill up with mud and dirt because it is closed'at the inner edge by the flange 1 and it is closed by the ring e at the outer`edge when the parts are assembled. purposely produce this space between these elements in order that the rim slip easily over the band when it 1s put on and taken off, and yet in order to prevent creeping provide the outer face of thel band at appropriate points .with spaced lugs le, and the inner face of the rim at corresponding points with other lugs 15, all 'lugs being-transverse to the elements or in other Words parallel to the axis, so that when the rim yis applied it may slip easily onto the band and each of its lugs 15 will pass between the tvvo corresponding lugs 1/1 on such band. By preference l use about four sets ot these lugs, although l. do not irish to be limited thereto. The may be straps ot considerable Width, and the inner end of the lug 15 on the rim bv preference tapered as at 16 so that it will pass readily between the corresponding lugs 1l.

At one point in the Wheel the telly and rim are notched as at 17 between two of the lugs 14e, and at a corresponding point the rim is provided with a hole 1S as shown. W hen non7 a pneumatic tire is put onto this rim, the nipple N is passed through said hole and projects radially inward as well ander stood, and Iwhen later the rim With its tire is slipped onto the band, 'the projecting nipplejpasses into vthe notch 17 as the lug 15 passesbetvveen the lugs 141. 1r the tire were not of the pneumatic type, or if its tube were inflated by some other means, as by means of a. nipple which projected in some other direction, these details of structure would not be necessary; but l describe and illustrate them in order to, adapt lthe invention to pneumatic tires in the form novvv in common use.

In the use ot' this invention, let us assume that the parts are assembled as seen in Fig. 1. When now the operator desires to remove the rim and its tire, he trips the catch or nut-lock, whatever its form, grasps the knob or handle 5 on the ring Li, and turns the latter in a direction to unscreW it oli the o uter edge of the .band B. As above suggested, a single thread only, or a. single convolution ot the thread only is employed, and therefore only a single revolution of the ring is necessary to unscrew and remove it, The rim 1() and tire may now immediately be slipped oli the wheel from the outside, and this is more readily accomplished because of the fact that the rim and band are connected only at about four points Where the interengaging lugs 14 and 15 exist, and practically no mud and dirt has been permitted to accumulate at other points between these elements. lf the user has not another rim and inflated tire ready for application, he then removes the delated and perhaps defective tire Jfrom the rim, and repairs and replaces it in a manner not necessary to amplify. For this purpose the flanges 11 and 12 may be suitably formed to engage the beads at the edges of the casing, but this detail forms no part ot the present invention. In either case, however, when he comes to replace the rim and its tire, he has but to slip it back onto the band from the outer side of the Wheel, taking care that the nipple N passes into the notch 17. Pressing it onto the band until its inner flan e 11 contacts with the inner flange 1 on the band, he now brings the ring /into position, engages its thread 3 .with the thread 2 on the outer. edge of the band B,`vgrasps its knob or handle 5, and gives it a, turn. One turn will be ample to screw it tight against the outer flange 12 of the rim,` and just at this time the teeth 9 come over the tip ot' the catch 7 and the latter is projected through the hole 8 to lock the ring against va retrograde movement. It the tire T is not already inflated, a pump is now attached to the nipple N and manipulated to supply the required amount of air, and all is Well. The application of the ring 4 closes the outer edge of the space 13 between the rim and the bench/and therefore as the motorist proceeds on his Way practically no dust or mud can get into this space between such elements-yet there are suicient points of contact between the interengaging lugs 14 and 15 around the circumference of the Wheel to prevent distortion or bending of the rim 10 under the weight of the load. The parts are of the desired sizes, shapes, proportions and materials, and details other than as hereinbefore given are no1L essential.

What is claimed as new is z In a demountable rim, the combination with a folly, and a band around the same having an outturned Hang@ at its inner edge and a thread 4groove around its outeiI odge and teeth in said edge at one point; of a ring having a thread rib on its innvr foco adapted to engage Suid groove, n. rim surrounding said band and of a width to be damped bei-weon its Han-ge and tho ring 1o for )reventinw' Groovin" of the rim. nud15 means on the latter for carrying a tire.'

n tostlmony whereof n'hx my slgnature.

CLARENCE W... FOSTER. 

